Personnel outsourcing earnings rose by 7.2% to N3.2 billion in June 2018 (June 2017: N3.0 billion). Fleet Management earnings increased by 14% to N4.2 billion in June 2018 (June 2017: N3.7billion). The rise in revenue from the fleet and personnel businesses were mainly due to business expansion in existing and new contracts following continuous demands for our services. Marine earnings increased by 10% to N5.2 billion in June 2018 (June 2017: N4.8 billion) due to the operation of the new vessel, MV Bello; while tracking income dipped by 9.2% to N0.10 billion in June 2018(June 2017:N0.11 billion) as a result of gradual restructuring taking place in the business.

Net operating income increased by 8.3% mainly as a result of improvements in net outsourcing income, which grew by 6.8% to N0.38 billion (June 2017: N0.36 billion) and other operating income which increased to N0.51billion in June 2018 from a net operating loss of N0.02 billion in June 2017. The growth in direct operating and interest expenses reflects the significant expansion in the volume of our business over the period under review, especially in the marine business; the vessel downtime previously mentioned; and, the ongoing write-off of pre-operational expenses incurred on MV Bello.

Key Developments Affecting our Business

The C & I Bond offer closed successfully with a 100% subscription and a coupon rate which reflects the strength of our Company and its premium credit rating. The bond was the first series in a N20 billion debt issuance programme and was raised for the purpose of business expansion and debt refinancing.

We also completed the buyout of the 27.5% minority stake in C&I Petrotech Marine Ltd, a Joint Venture company, and in the process took full ownership of six vessels presently deployed to a long-term contract with Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC).

Though oil prices have remained fairly stable, there has been less activity on long-term projects owing to delayed government approvals and funding. However, more visible opportunities are in the area of revamping, maintenance and re-entry operations with high demand for ‘on the spot’ opportunities (short-term demand for available vessels). Work feasibility studies are ongoing on the offshore operations in Ghana, Ivory Coast and Mozambique. Strategic partnership opportunities in shallow water/swamp drilling are currently being explored and there is significant progress in discussions with prospective clients. We are also finalizing a strategic partnership in subsea engineering and the first project of about $200 million is expected to commence this September. Other opportunities and partnerships are also being evaluated which hopefully will come into fruition by Q3.

We have 85% utilization of all our vessels in mid to long-term contracts with the International Oil & Gas companies. Maintenance on some vessels resulted in a brief down time but operations have since resumed without major effect on the bottom line.

Our Outsourcing business continues to grow with the acquisition of new clients from the Power, FMCG and Government Sectors coming on board this quarter. Our recruitment portal ‘Getajobng.com’ is currently being upgraded to become a commercial web application which will be an additional source of revenue generation. We continue to upskill our outsourced workforce with ongoing trainings via E-Learning, classroom training sessions and workshops. We have potential leads for new business emerging from Ghana for some of our clients setting up operations

In our Fleet and Car rental Business we not only increased our existing client base for both corporate and individual clients, we have invested in new vehicles to grow and renew our existing fleet. The category of cars include SUVs, sedan, medium size buses. We have several new contracts with several Multinational and International organizations in negotiations which will come into effect by August 2018. Our current clientele is robust and diverse spanning Power, Telecommunications, FMCG, Banking, Oil & Gas, Consulting and Service Businesses across Lagos, Abuja, Enugu, Port Harcourt and Benin.

Leasafric Ghana unveiled a fresh look for the Car rental service which is now known as ‘SWITCH’ Car Rental Services. Our new SWITCH Brand has some innovative introductions such as free WIFI and cross country transit with security and tracking across borders. Leasafric is looking to raise a bond from the Ghanaian market and also have its shares listed on the Ghana stock exchange by introduction. We are expectant that it will close successfully by Q3 just as Nigeria did in Q2.

Business Description

Fleet Management, with our Hertz car rental franchise both adequately supported by our owned service centre and our citrack telematics solutions service is a one-stop brand where we offer superior fleet management service to our clients. Our Ghanaian subsidiary, Leasafric Ghana, is the largest provider of outsourcing and fleet management services in Ghana.

The C&I Leasing group of companies is made up of three divisions: Fleet Management, Outsourcing and Marine divisions with two subsidiaries, Leasafric (Ghana) and EPIC International FZE (United Arab Emirates). With a Balance sheet of over N46.6 billion, a total[1] staff strength of over 5,500 people and operational offices in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Abuja,Enugu, Benin and Ghana, the Company takes pride in its track record of exceptional and qualitative service delivery. Today, the C&I Leasing plc brand can be felt in major sectors of the Nigerian economy, providing specialised services especially in Marine, Telecommunications, oil and gas, equipment rentals, manpower outsourcing and transportation.

C&I Leasing Plc has its share listed on the official list of the Nigerian Stock Exchange since 1997 and has been in operations since 1991.

This release contains forward-looking statements which reflect management’s expectations regarding the group’s future growth, results of operations, performance, business prospects and opportunities. Wherever possible, words such as “anticipate”, “believe”, “expects”, “intend”, “estimate”, “project”, “target”, “risks”, “goals” and similar terms and phrases have been used to identify the forward-looking statements. These statements reflect management’s current beliefs and are based on information currently available to the Group’s management. Certain material factors or assumptions have been applied in drawing the conclusions contained in the forward-looking statements. These factors or assumptions are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future expectations generally. Forward-looking statements therefore speak only as of the date they are made.

C&I Leasing Plc cautions readers that a number of factors could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from the results discussed or implied in the forward-looking statements. These factors should be considered carefully, and undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements. For additional information with respect to certain of these risks or factors, reference should be made to the Group’s continuous disclosure materials filed from time to time with the Central Bank of Nigeria as well as the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The Group disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.